Complexities

"Complexities would be an excellent supplemental text in upper-division undergraduate or graduate courses in logic, philosophy, political science, global human-resource management, or cultural diversity. The real-world nature of the essays and the lack of clear conclusions make the selections in this book an excellent starting point for class discussions and reflective practice exercises. Used effectively, this book should aid students in demonstrating competence in synthesizing, evaluating, and judging the advantages and disadvantages of courses of behavior." - Cheryl Crozier Garcia, International Social Science Review

"These essays provide an unusually rich look at theories of knowledge put to work in several empirical disciplines." - K. Doran , Choice

"This volume begins to address a theme of increasing importance within sociology. Although it is produced form within the field of science and technology studies, it should have a broader appeal among other social scientists, including those who are interested in social theory, cultural studies, communications, management, and organizational research." - Anne Gatensby , Contemporary Sociology

"John Law and Annemarie Mol have gathered a distinguished panel of contributors to discuss how the concept of complexity might be handled—particularly within the field of science studies—without generating a chaos of further complexities. Indeed, they examine not only ways of relating to complexity but to complexity in practice." - Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society

"There is much here to provoke new thought and insight into the meaning of complexity, and the authors do show how any reduction will inevitably require a focusing that is partial and ultimately problematic. . . . Mol should be applauded for trying to see how her story might have some longer term practical utility. But the overall strength of this book lies in its posing more questions than answers-in a quite deliberate way. It is not an easy read, but then that would be asking for a simplification that would hide the very complex(ity) issues the book is trying to reveal." - Andrew Webster , Interdisciplinary Science Reviews

“Extremely timely, important, and well-defined, this book is precisely on target in focusing on heterogeneous studies that treat knowledge as local. The types of science and technology discussed are diverse and well-balanced.” - David Stump, coeditor of The Disunity of Science: Boundaries, Contests, and Power